More © Murakami Pics

So I went to the MOCA © Murakami member’s opening last night. A joy of feeder lines, but interesting and fun nonetheless. Last night was the big “Halloween Party Night” for the “I Have Somewhere to Be on Thursday Morning” set, so there was the interesting and highly appropriate addition of a variety of costumed folks to the crowd. I kept trying to think about this event in the context of the Superflat opening in 2001, but it’s been a long time, and I was at the general opening for that, not the member’s opening. But I kept wondering – are these folks the same folks who stood in that line and practically exploded/imploded in wonder as they entered that show, just balder and thinking about buying a condo? Last night, while waiting in line, Michele and I came to the conclusion that the current hipster accessory is no longer the baby (about 3-4 years ago), nor the trucker hat (seems to never go away), nor Pabst Blue Ribbon (not a bad beer, but come on, no one’s going to chastise you if you try a different brand once and a while, Mr. “just help yourself to the trashcan full of Pabst and ice” gallery), but the condo. I think the new LA hipster accessory is getting over the guilt of your own success, forgetting you ever wanted to “do things your own way”, and buying a condo, and then buying furniture from a place that’s not IKEA. It was a long, long line, but it actually moved reasonably fast.

Above – Being in the line was a sort of Disneyland-esqe passage of time, and seeing a person who’s Halloween costume incorporated one of those Mickey ear hats in the feeder line. Photo by Michele Hubacek, who also has a © Murakami set.

Into the exhibition. So the exhibition does come across a bit like a Talking Heads greatest hits album – sure, it seems conservative and somehow limited, but the band is solid. It’s hard to look at so much Takashi Murakami in one place – it comes across so much like a brand, like advertisement, that I’m left wondering what’s behind the curtain. I feel solidly confident that I have the requisite pop culture and Japanese culture skills to read the work, and I’ve been swimming in this stuff for a long time, so whatever novelty the work might have, whatever surprise might be inside of it is stripped away. There are pieces in the show that are mindblowingly good, and there are pieces right next to them that read like wallpaper to me. I’ve been looking at this stuff since I started looking at art seriously, frankly, the Superflat show might have been the first time in my life that I really started to think about art seriously. So I’m almost stupidly familiar with some of his pieces like My Lonesome Cowboy or Hiropon, for example. I think that Murakami’s at his best when his work or imagery is in a state of deconstruction or motion, and that the more static imagery could be cut away, leaving a better and more coherent body of work. I’ve gotten exceptionally fond of reduction as an editing process lately.

The Louis Vuitton store, encountered at the “end” of the exhibition, is boring, and seems out of place. It’s a walled off area, with a foyer containing some of Murakami’s biggest, best and newest works – here some of his more relevant and meaningful work almost seems reduced to the level of waiting room catalog art. These are three works, all in a really loose style, with lots of coppery metallics in them – much more painterly than most of his work, and more deeply rooted in the traditional practice of his training as an artist. They’re the kind of work that I wish he would do more of. Had I designed the exhibition, I probably would have fronted it with these, especially 727-272, which aside from the immediate and slightly overplayed (not necessarily here, but by Murakami in general) Hokusai reference (wave, etc…), is possibly the most interesting piece in the show.

The store itself was weird – a surprising (or not surprising – what do I know about purse stores) number of people working the counter, checking out bags. Sure I own a full set of Louis Vuitton luggage, but I bought it for scrap leather off a friend for $60 cash, and it has stitch marks from where some kid in New Delhi tried to rob my friend with a razor and his fleet feet, but I have no understanding whatsoever for why anyone would blow a grand on a handbag. Then again, I saw a seven year old trotting around with a $300 Murakami soccer ball, so when in Rome, or Pompeii, I guess. It’s small, and there was a line to get in (like everything else), where an angry security guard, was yelling at the people in line “Up against the wall! Get up against the wall!” as if there was some kind of riot about to get out of control. There were like a dozen people in line, mostly looking a bit tired and bored at that point.

I guess the store is meant to function as the end of the exhibition, and I really feel that’s a mistake. I get it that both MOCA and Murakami are making a statement here, and that the press focus of the show is going to all be on the store, since that’s the “point of novelty.” That doesn’t mean that you have to use the store as a punchline/climax of the whole show. There are better and more interesting things in this show that MOCA could have employed in this capacity. Anyways, the store was weird and as I’ve rambled on about before, not an aggressive enough move – it’s just walls, some mirror and retail ladies and white suits. I really feel if they want to play this hand, they should have played it in a stronger or more conceptual way.

I have more thoughts about the show, and I might get into that later, but these are my immediate impressions. It’s pretty much impossible to get an idea of a show on this scale during an event like this, but I’ll be returning at least once or twice during its run. The one thing I can definitely say is that it fits much, much better into the space than the labyrinthine WACK! did.

Photography wasn’t really allowed in the show, but that wasn’t really stopping anyone. They were only seriously militant about the Louis Vuitton store, but I’m calling it here and now – the days of no photography in museums are ending fast. One of my current favourite quotes is from my personal hero, saint and guru John Boyd who after seeing his first Xerox machine in the Pentagon exclaimed “Great! Now nothing is secret anymore!” Last night, everybody was shooting right and left – with all manner of doodads. It’s unstoppable and museums and the collections they borrow from are just going to have to face their defeat on this one. For every one person they were stopping from shooting, three or four more were snapping away, undeterred.

That being said, I like C-Monster’s quote about shooting in the show that accompanies one of his photos -

“all fotos are surreptitious since security was being a total freak
about anyone with a camera… because god forbid that an artist who
borrows liberally from pop culture have any of his images appear online.”

C-Monster doesn’t allow others to download and re-post his images, so I’m just linking to this great crowd shot and this excellent shot of a DOB balloon. He’s also got his own post about the opening, Overheard at the MOCA Murakami Opening.

Also in the doesn’t allow downloading of her photos crowd, Ruth666 has a review up at blogging.la and is running a Flickr set of her own. Her set has images of two of the newer pieces relegated to waiting room duty outside of the Louis Vuitton store. She must have been there earlier than I was, since she reports that the line for the store was ridiculous. When I was there it was like a two minute wait. She also has strong words for the museum staff, who were definitely on edge and aggressive. And I do agree with her that as a member, the conduct of the security staff was off-putting.

Above – There were a ton of children there, getting some serious overstimulation on. Flickr user Steven Wong’s kids rode their double stroller through the exhibition, like two tiny art aristocrats in a rickshaw. The presence of so many kids definitely added to the Disneyland feel of the event.

Above – Flickr user Asianimage was at the opening and has a Flickr set going, too. He was really into the Vuitton store, and took a bunch of photos of what looks like the Louis Vuitton catalog for the show, as well as the invite for the event.

I was pleased to discover Flickr user Brandon Shigeta’s set, Murakami in Ten Sec. Intervals, where he just had his camera hanging, and let it work away for a while. Most of the shots are blur-tastic, but there are some gems in there, and I ike the way the set carries the idea of moving around through the busy opening, trying to see things. He also has a straight set from the opening as well.

Above – From Murakami in Ten Sec. Intervals, photo by Brandon Shigeta.

Above – Louis Vuitton / Takashi Murakami Wallet from the Louis Vuitton store at MOCA, photo by Brandon Shigeta.

In my Flickr searching for more images from the show, I discovered my two favourites (below), which are not actually of the show. They were taken at a private party on Friday night, by LA art scenester, writer, Manic Panic addict and fetish object Lenora Claire (best known for putting together this year’s Golden Gals Gone Wild show). In these two photos, Murakami is seen first passing out on the couch, surrounded by party guests and five body painted “Murakami-ettes”, and then waking up. The man’s had a busy week. At the opening last night, he looked like he really needed both a nap and a break from the crowds.